


Pin-Up Girl

by VictoriaSinclair



Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: F/M, Movie Spoilers, Romance, School Reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: 2014-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 15:49:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1134523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoriaSinclair/pseuds/VictoriaSinclair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>MOVIE SPOILERS AHOY. Because of that, I can't say much other than: Veronica and Logan have a Talk during the reunion weekend. There are Revelations. And Dick being Dick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pin-Up Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hollye83](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollye83/gifts).



> This story involves a BIG MOVIE SPOILER about Logan's character that has not been in any of the official trailers or anything, so if you don't want to be spoiled or are just sticking to the officially released stuff, DO NOT READ.
> 
> This was also inspired by an episode of another TV show, but even saying what show it was would be spoilery, so please see the end note for that.
> 
> Thanks to Holly for all her help (including the title)!

Veronica sat on the edge of the group at the bar, sipping at a glass of wine while she watched Logan - for the case, she told herself, shushing the voice in the back of her head that was reminding her that the case was pretty much over. He was practically holding court, as groups of old friends and classmates circulated in and out, asking for Navy stories and passing around phones with pictures of their lives. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when it struck her that "Logan Echolls Joins the Navy" was a far more shocking news item to the alumni of Neptune High than "Logan Echolls Suspected of Murder."

The group finally started trickling out and then suddenly they were alone at the end of the bar, everyone else distracted by other gossip. Logan eyed the empty bar stool next to Veronica, then shrugged to himself and moved over. "You've been quiet tonight."

"I'm fine." Veronica smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. " _You_ have quite the collection of stories. Foreign lands, exotic women . . . I bet I never even crossed your mind until you realized you needed someone to get you out of a murder charge." She tried to make it sound like a joke, like small talk. She failed miserably.

Logan stared at her. "Veronica." His voice caught and he ducked his head for a moment. When he looked back up at her, he was smiling. "Hey, you're slipping."

"What?"

"Your observation skills. Clearly you weren't paying enough attention when my adoring public was looking at the pictures of my cockpit." He waved his phone for emphasis, and Veronica grabbed for it.

"Let me see that."

Logan chuckled as he brought up a picture on his phone, then handed it over. "You might need to zoom in."

Veronica's brow furrowed as she examined the photo and zoomed in on a tattered piece of paper taped up in the cockpit. "Is that . . . oh. Is that _me_?"

"Of course it's you." It was from the summer before college; they'd gone sailing one sunny afternoon and Veronica had stood gazing out at the water with the wind blowing her hair around her face and he hadn't been able to stop taking pictures because she was just so fucking beautiful. She'd only gotten him to put the camera away when she started kissing him and his hands suddenly had much more important things to do than snap pictures. He wondered if she even remembered that day.

Present day Veronica was looking at him quizzically, like she wasn't quite sure how to take this. "So I'm, what, I'm your pin-up girl?"

"Ha. Um." Logan coughed, partially to stall for time but mostly because it suddenly seemed like all the air in the room was gone. "Not exactly."

"What, then?"

"When - whenever I wasn't sure I was gonna make it back . . ." He had to just say it. "I just . . . I wanted to make sure you were the last thing I saw before I died."

" _Logan_." She instinctively reached out to touch his arm and then jerked back as if she'd been scalded. She busily fiddled with her wine glass, trying to cover her reaction.

"I know, it's pathetic. Sorry. Such a downer." He stared into his beer, afraid of what would be in her eyes.

"No. _Logan_." Veronica touched his arm again and then his _face,_ and he was so startled that he looking right into her eyes, and - oh.

"Great. I made you cry. Just like old times." Logan sincerely hoped the tears he was choking back weren't showing up in his own voice. "Aren't reunions swell?"

"It's - no - you didn't - I just - " And then she was reaching for him again. "Can I . . ."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Does the indefatigable Veronica Mars need a hug?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded and launched herself at him.

"Whoa, bobcat," he murmured as he caught her. "It's okay."

"You could have _died_."

"I didn't die. I'm right here." Logan patted her back a bit awkwardly, unsure of societally acceptable boundaries when your ex was retroactively distressed about previous incidents of mortal peril. She put her head on his shoulder and he pulled her half onto his lap so they wouldn't fall over - just to stabilize her, he told himself sternly.

"You're not allowed to die. Promise me."

"Veronica . . ." He sighed. "Veronica, I'm an officer in the Navy. I can't . . . I promise I will do my very best not to die, okay?"

She nodded, then nestled closer, her lips coming perilously close to his own. If he just moved a few inches, he could . . .

"Veronica. You have a boyfriend. We're not - we're not those people." _We're not our parents._ The unspoken words practically echoed in the nearly empty bar.

She picked up her head, but didn't budge from his lap. "Maybe I don't want to have a boyfriend anymore."

Logan raised his eyebrows at her.

"Maybe I don't want to have _that_ boyfriend anymore," she clarified.

Logan managed to suppress his first impulse, which was to jump up and down, or maybe twirl her around a little.

"Don't make any snap decisions here," he told her, hating that he felt compelled to be the voice of reason. "You're upset. It's been a crazy few days and then I just dropped this big emotional thing on you. Give yourself time to think about it."

"Oh, I've thought about it," she said wryly. "Piz isn't . . . it isn't working."

"Why not?" Logan felt like he was filibustering. He wasn't quite convinced that this conversation could actually end well, so clearly the only solution was to never let it end. "I mean, obviously I'm not the guy's biggest fan, but he adores you. And it seems like he's good to you."

"He is," she said quickly. "He's a good guy. Just this one huge, tragic flaw."

"What's that?"

"He's not you."

Logan didn't even bother to try not to grin at that. "Few people are," he agreed.

"Logan?"

"Veronica?"

"Why does it seem like you're trying to convince me not to break up with Piz?"

"I'm not trying to convince you not to break up with Piz," he said carefully. "I'm trying to make sure you don't do anything you're going to regret."

"That's . . . magnanimous of you."

Logan laughed. "No. It's very, very selfish of me."

"What?"

"I don't know if I could survive losing you again."

"Oh." Veronica paused. "Well, I'm glad to see all this newfound maturity hasn't totally eradicated your melodramatic streak."

Logan couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm serious, you know."

"I know." Veronica gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and slid off his lap. "So am I."

"So what now?"

"Now you give me a few hours to handle this correctly."

"And then?"

"And then . . . I don't know, I think there's this thing I've heard of called asking women out on dates? And sometimes they don't even involve murder investigations? You could try that."

"Well, that sounds novel. Why not?" Logan stood up to help Veronica into her jacket, then pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "Tell Piz I'm sorry about his inevitably broken heart."

Veronica made a face.

"Okay, don't tell him that. Is he gonna come beat me up or something?"

Veronica laughed. "Logan, you're a _fighter pilot_. He's not going to beat you up."

As Veronica turned to leave, Dick appeared in the doorway. "Hey, Logan, come on! There are a bunch of hot girls in the other room who want to play pool with Top Gun!"

"Well, that's _my_ cue to leave," Veronica said, struggling to contain her laughter.

"I think I've got about all the hot girl I can handle right now, thanks," Logan said. "But I'll come be your wingman. No pun intended."

"Huh?" Dick looked back and forth between the pair, completely baffled.

"Never mind. Let's go play pool."

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by a scene in the Enlisted pilot. Obviously neither that nor the Veronica Mars characters belong to me!


End file.
